


Prompt 14 (Lennox 4)

by Yoselin



Series: L&L Tumblr Prompts [15]
Category: Love & Legends (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-19 23:02:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14247615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoselin/pseuds/Yoselin
Summary: Originally posted to Tumblr.Name used here is Hannah.“I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re safe with me.”





	Prompt 14 (Lennox 4)

Still within my Lennox series.  
Name used here is Hannah.  
——  
It’s a nice day outside. The sun streams through puffy clouds and a nice breeze rustles our clothing. Small butterflies flutter past our little clearing and birds sing nearby. Truly, we couldn’t have picked a better outing.  
I spread out the blanket for the picnic for us and smile up at Lennox.  
“Today is a great day for a picnic, yeah?”  
I hold out my arm to embrace him, but Lennox makes a face and sidesteps me. He grumbles something under his breath about the pollen in the air and his sinuses before taking the basket from me.  
“I can’t believe you talked me into this,” he mutters. He rips open the picnic basket and fishes around until he finds the bottle of wine he had stashed inside it.  
I plop down on the picnic blanket and press my hands to my knees. The breeze feels truly great. After being locked up in a castle for months on end, I enjoy every little outing we can get.  
“The sun is good for you, Len, you need Vitamin D every once in a while.”  
I reach out my fingers and stroke at his jawline. He moves his head back, sends me a glare capable of freezing over deserts, and uncorks the wine bottle.  
“This is ridiculous. One hour, one, and then we go back. I have a meeting with General Richter this afternoon about troop movements,” Lennox mutters. He puts the bottle to his lips and tilts his head back.  
I hum and stare up at the sunny sky. There hasn’t been a day this beautiful since the day I was taken. That day had been as lovely as this one.  
I smile to myself. It had been a terrible chore to convince Lennox to come with me on this day out. Every time I insisted on us going somewhere that wasn’t his church or his room, he shot me down. For weeks I had insisted on a simple outing to either the town adjacent to the palace or the fields by the river, and for weeks he had threatened to tear out my vocal chords if I didn’t leave him be. Finally, I had wore him out. He had agreed to ‘go through with my stupid idea’ if only I promised to keep my mouth shut from now on and leave him be.  
“You have to admit you enjoy this, Len. It’s a beautiful day,” I grin. I reach out my finger to a passing butterfly. It lands on it briefly before flying away. I giggle.  
Lennox scoffs into the wine bottle and says nothing. He looks away from me and adamantly refuses to acknowledge my presence.  
Typical.  
I don’t let this bother me. Instead, I move myself so that I am settled up next to him and put my head on his shoulder. The familiar scent of expensive cologne and blood greets me. I smile softly and let it envelop me. After so long, it smells like home.  
“Do you know why I wanted to come here?” I murmur. My fingers reach out for his hand on the wine bottle. He lets me take his hand and passes the beverage to his other one.  
“Because you are immature and enjoy annoying me?” Lennox guesses.  
I stick my tongue out at him playfully. He makes a face and mumbles ‘such a child’ underneath his breath.  
“No,” I hum, “because today it’s been three years.”  
Silence.  
Lennox glances at me out of the corner of his eye before doing the mental calculation. I can practically see him running through the numbers in his head. I trace a pattern on his knuckle.  
Today has marked three years of being together. Three years ago, he snatched me from my old life and made me a new one. For three years, I’ve been at his side and have served him as lover and servant.  
“I lost count,” Lennox admits after a lasting quiet, “So I have suffered through your idiocy for three summers.”  
I make a sound at the back of my throat at his words and move my head. From my place, I can see something in his eyes. For all his cold words, his gaze on me is somehow softer. It seems like he has realized the importance of today.  
I lean close and press a featherlight kiss to his cheek. As always, he tenses before making a sound of disgust and moving away. I don’t let this bother me. Instead, I move and press another one to his jaw.  
“I’m glad for these three years, you know, I enjoy being at your side,” I whisper.  
Lennox grunts underneath his breath but doesn’t comment on it. I move my head and nod at the landscape before us.  
The clearing has several wildflowers up ahead and I can hear a rushing stream from nearby. It is a truly romantic setting.  
“Don’t tell me you don’t enjoy being with me,” I tease.  
I grin at him and watch a passing yellow butterfly. It floats around us almost as if framing us for a beautiful portrait. I trace its path with my finger but it refuses to land there. Instead, it stretches its beautiful wings and enjoys its freedom. The little insect flies around with joy and hope and brilliance. I’m almost envious of It’s carefree nature.  
“See? The butterflies are out,” I chirp.  
My fingers reach out for the yellow one and I almost manage to trap it in my hands but it flits past my grip.  
“When I was a kid,” Lennox begins, “My mother had a plant in her garden. The butterflies loved gathering there. I used to play there and catch them. I liked snagging them by their wings and letting them fly in my hands. My mother would get angry at me. She said I was hurting them.”  
The confession is so surprising that I abandon trying to catch my winged companion. My eyebrow raises up and I press my hand to my chin. Lennox doesn’t often comment about his childhood. His past is locked with a thick key and padlock, so any little comment he throws my way is greatly appreciated.  
I edge closer. “Did you know it hurt them?”  
Lennox observes the butterfly fluttering past him. “No. I just wanted to see their beauty. I did not own much growing up, no toys, no friends, nothing. What little I could call mine was treasured. Butterflies were lovely and they swarmed my home. I often trapped them because I wanted to observe them. I never meant to hurt them. They are fragile things.”  
I feel a smidge of sympathy at his words. I reach out and hold his hand in mine.  
“Did you stop afterwords then? If you knew you were hurting them?”  
I move my head to his shoulder again. Sensing my plan, Lennox moves his arm before I can. He sends me a warning look before scoffing.  
“No. I thought it was annoying that they could not take something as simple as me catching them. They were weak and just another thing to reject me. I stopped catching them because I grew disgusted with them.”  
His voice is venomous and harsh. I wince and bite my lip.  
He has so much pain in him. His loneliness buzzes underneath his skin and torments him. I’ve tried to take some of the burden off his shoulders but have only partly succeeded.  
While I have noticed a change in him, his gaze has softened when he looks at me and he’s grown less cruel with his cult when I’m around, he still carries a lot of torment. I only wish I was enough to fully liberate him.  
I kiss his jaw and nod at the yellow butterfly from before. It twirls around in the air before moving for us. I reach out to catch it again but it averts my grasp and settles for Lennox instead. It lands on his nose and perches there.  
I laugh and wish I had brought a camera from Chicago. It’s such a cute sight to see Lennox’s startled face and blush as the butterfly stares up at him that I would have loved to capture it.  
“It looks like they weren’t all rejecting you, Len. Maybe you just needed to hold out for a butterfly that wanted to be at your side.”  
I reach out my finger to stroke the butterfly-  
But Lennox moves in a flash.  
Before I can register what is happening, his hand closes around the butterfly and he crushes it in his fingers. I gasp as he lets the tiny corpse fall away from us. He makes a sound of disgust and wipes his fingers against the picnic blanket.  
“Disgusting insect,” he grumbles.  
I stare at him in utter shock. When what he has done finally dawns on me, I shudder. A tiny part of me is scared by his actions although I do not know why.  
I swallow. “You killed it.”  
“Brilliant observation, Hannah, you are truly a great scholar,” Lennox’s voice drips with sarcasm. He glares at me and takes another swig of the wine bottle.  
I blink, bite my cheek, and reel in my emotions. Once I’ve gotten them under control, I shake my head and push the thoughts of the tiny mangled corpse away. Instead, I reach out and pull out a small sandwich from the picnic basket.  
I unwrap it slowly and break it in half. Passing over a half to Lennox, I hum. “You like these don’t you?”  
“They are edible,” Lennox answers back. He takes a bite out of his and chews slowly. His gaze scans around the clearing in thought.  
I stare at my half and pull out the lettuce and tomatoes.  
“I tried to make your favorites today. A thank you for this,” I raise up my right ring finger.  
A tiny gold ring with a salt water pearl rests there. It had been Lennox’s gift last week. He had surprised me with it after he had left a particularly bad bruise on the corner of my mouth in a fit of rage.  
Lennox glances at the band and makes a sound at the back of his throat to feign listening. I press on and reach out for his own right hand. A gold band rests there too with my initial engraved in it. He had purchased it with my ring.  
They weren’t wedding rings, Lennox didn’t believe in marriage and often called it a sham devised by merchants to sell foolish couples wedding dresses, but they might as well be. We had already been together for three years and I was at his side constantly-the only woman to have that honor. I was his and he was mine. In the eyes of his congregation, we were already wed.  
I trace the band on his finger and smile at him. “Really, Len, thank you. You didn’t have to.”  
He shrugs but says nothing. Perhaps it is my imagination but I see a flush of color to his cheeks.  
I laugh lightly to myself and wrap an arm around his frame. My lips move forward and I kiss the corner of his mouth. He tenses, hands move to push me off, but changes his mind at the last moment.  
His face moves closer and he kisses me in turn. I can taste the wine and sandwich on his breath. My hand goes for his hair and I twirl the strands in between my fingertips.  
After a few moments, he withdraws but doesn’t move entirely out of my grasp. Instead, his hands move to my waist and his forehead presses against mine. Amber eyes close shut and he shudders against me.  
I can feel the war of emotions simmering in him. He is no longer the terrifying and cruel General he once was. Now, his rage is manageable, his actions are more calculated, and, most importantly, his loneliness is subsiding with every second I am at his side. I have been a positive influence in him and might just be able to change him.  
Perhaps in due time I will be able to fully erase the emotional burden he carries with him.  
I press a kiss to his nose and nip the skin there. He makes a sound at the back of his throat, something akin to an annoyed grunt, but doesn’t move.  
I move for his mouth again and kiss him. This kiss is brief and light. He leans into it and moves one hand to my hair while the other pushes my waist closer to him.  
I close my eyes and feel his breath at my lips. One of my hands knot into his hair while the other moves to his coat. Today he has abandoned his usual coat and dons a different one, a simple, teal overcoat worth more than anything in the Capital’s treasury. I work at undoing the pearl buttons on it and he moves his hand to my dress.  
My breath hitches as he goes to the lace at the back of it. When his fingers begin to work at its ties, entirely practiced from all the times he has done it before, I shiver.  
“I love you.” The words leave my lips in a tiny pant enriched with emotion and desire.  
Lennox flinches and stills. He keeps his eyes closed but a crease appears on his brow.  
“Love is a fable,” he replies.  
I shake my head and manage to undo his jacket. It slips from his shoulders to reveal a silk cravat and thin blue shirt.  
“It’s not. I really do love you,” I whisper. I stroke his cheek with one hand and brush another kiss against his lips.  
He kisses back before withdrawing. His eyes open and he stares at me. There’s ice in his eyes, cruelty that shines through in every gaze, but there’s also something impossibly soft there. An emotion I haven’t seen before is appearing in his gaze. It mirrors my own and sends waves of warmth through me.  
Perhaps it is just my imagination, perhaps it is just my hope, but it seems like love.  
My breath hitches as Lennox moves to my jaw. He bites at the skin there, sharp enough to hurt, then soothes the area with his tongue. I close my eyes and dig my nails into the expensive fabric of his shirt.  
“How many times have you said that before? To how many men have you said those same words?” Lennox asks.  
His voice cuts me out of my thoughts and I blink up at him. His fingers have stilled on my dress and his face is flushed. There’s desire emanating off of him along with something much more personal and kind. Affection.  
I reach out my hand and place it at his cheek. He tenses at the touch but doesn’t shove me away. That is a good sign.  
“Once. Once before,” I reply. I close my eyes and lean forward. A flash of something tickles at my memory. I remember a man with mismatched eyes who had repeated that same phrase to me eons ago, a man who had promised to make me happy, someone who had meant the world to me. His memory shines in my mind for half a second before it disappears like a wisp of smoke. I shake my head to clear it and return to Lennox. “But you’re the only time I’ve meant it.”  
He digests this information, takes it in stride, and moves forward. His hand goes for my hair and he rips the hairpin in it out. He tosses it somewhere and crashes my mouth against his.  
I let out a squeak as I am pressed to him. He kisses me like he needs it to survive and leans over me. His hands pull at my dress and my shoulder is bared. I feel the warm breeze at my skin.  
A flush spreads across my face and I make a sound as his mouth moves to the exposed skin.  
While it isn’t the first time he has taken me outdoors, this time feels different. His movements aren’t simply carnal and fraught with possession like so many other times. This time, there is something much more caring about it-more personal. Even the harsh bites he levies against my skin have an undercurrent of something more precious.  
He lifts his head and kisses me again. It’s a soft kiss unlike anything he has ever given me before. His eyes drift closed and he takes a deep breath.  
“If you ever tell anyone I said this, I will rip your tongue out and make you eat it,” he warns. My breath hitches yet he presses on, “but I enjoy having you at my side.”  
He goes to kiss me again and I meet him halfway. Excitement goes through me and I wrap my arms around his neck. “Does that mean…?”  
I drift off unable to finish my sentence. Lennox blushes, dark red painting his skin, and moves out of my embrace. His fingers go for my arm and he twirls the ring around my finger idly.  
“Yeah, yeah, it means I love you,” he grumbles. When a smile spreads across my face, his jaw clenches. “If you ever tell anyone I said that, I will rip your throat out.”  
I shake my head, ignore the bite in his words, and lean forward. He closes his eyes to kiss me again-  
And then something flies between us.  
A scream leaves my throat and Lennox jolts back. His hands are at his pockets in a flash and he pulls out his knives. I stand up, fix the strings of my dress, and cower at his side.  
A mixture of voices surrounds us. People who I don’t know yet somehow recognize emerge from the clearing. There’s three of them. A woman with light pink hair and a staff at her side, an elf with flowing hair and a bow poised towards us-  
And a man with mismatched eyes who sends a powerful emotion careening towards me.  
Our gazes meet and my knees almost buckle underneath me. I don’t remember him, not really, but something powerful in me lights up at his gaze.  
I open my mouth to ask him his name, needing to know it just to understand why he has an effect on me, when Lennox seizes me. His hand grabs my wrist and he yanks me behind him. A murderous glint is in his eyes and he sends a knife flying in the stranger’s direction.  
A flash of magic sends the knife flying away from its target and the girl slams her staff on the ground. Her eyes meet mine and there is utter relief in her gaze.  
“Hannah!” My name spills from her lips and she almost runs at me but holds herself back. The elf at her side sees me and similar relief floods his features as well. I see my own name slip past his lips in something akin to a prayer.  
I cower and press against Lennox’s back. Confusion overwhelms me and I shiver. “What’s happening?”  
Lennox opens his mouth to say something but never gets a chance to finish. The stranger with the mismatched eyes dives for him and he is ripped from my side. The man’s hands lock against his throat and Lennox is unable to fight him off.  
I scream and make a move to run towards him. I have no strength but maybe I can pull the stranger off and give Lennox time to run-  
Something flies past blocking my view. An arrow, similar to the one that had interrupted us before, flits past me and is lost somewhere in the clearing. I freeze.  
The girl from before moves towards me. Her hand reached out as if to touch me.  
“Hannah! It is you! It’s been three years,” she pants it out. Her eyes are wide with relief and guilt and something caring.  
I flinch from her and back away. “Who are you?!”  
My scream sounds unhinged and I dive for Lennox’s discarded coat. I yank out one of his knives and hold it aloft in front of me as a feeble attempt to ward her off.  
The girl skids to a stop as her elven companion knocks an arrow and aims at it me. He looks similarly startled.  
“Hannah? It’s us,” he replies.  
The girl moves forward another step and I back away. The knife in my hand shakes. I’m scared, I don’t know them-  
And yet I feel something. There’s something in me that is screaming. Red alarms flash in my mind and I feel lightheaded. I don’t know these assailants, yet I do know them.  
The girl reaches out her hand towards the knife.  
“What did he do to you, Hannah?” Her voice sounds tiny, shocked, and her eyes scan me quickly. I wonder what she sees. Does she see the confusion and panic on my face, or does she see the scars and bruises across my body?  
I take a step back and a scream makes me turn. The fight between Lennox and the third stranger is still raging. The other two distracted me from it.  
Lennox has been able to free himself and there is a bad bruise forming on his neck. He gasps for air, coughs, and coils his body for an attack. His blades are clenched in his hands tightly. He glares at his enemy with extreme rage and hatred.  
His opponent meets his gaze with his own hard stare. His mismatched eyes blaze with fury, something much more terrifying than Lennox’s own anger, and his hands are almost surrounded by flame.  
He’s screaming something at Lennox, biting it through clenched teeth, but I can only make out brief snippets of it.  
“…took her from me…kill you…you hurt her…I loved her…”  
His voice sends a powerful pain in my skull and I cry out. My hand presses to my temple and the knife shakes in my grasp.  
The girl’s voice brings me back. She is close to me now, almost at me, and her elven companion is inching forward behind her. Her hands are in front of her to show me that she is unarmed and her gaze is soft and almost frightened.  
Not of me, I realize, but for me.  
“Hannah, it’s okay. I’m Altea. We were friends before. Please tell me you remember me.”  
She reaches out for me and I move back.  
“I don’t know you! Stay away!” I swipe at her with the knife and she steps back. Her companion lifts his bow in warning. Still, I don’t miss the way his gaze is pitying and pleading when he regards me.  
I risk a glance at the fight next to us and see that Lennox is losing. He throws blades at a mad speed, but his opponent somehow dodges each one. He rushes at Lennox in turn and lands good blows on his face. I wince at a particular bad one on his jaw.  
I move to help him when I see Lennox grope blindly at his vest. His daggers are gone and none are within reach. He turns pale and realizes he won’t win this fight.  
I whisper his name underneath my breath, shake in fear for him, and grit my teeth.  
The stranger moves forward and wraps his hands around Lennox’s throat. Lennox resists weakly but his grip won’t budge. He gropes at the stranger’s hand in panic.  
I see the way his lips turn blue, skin goes white-  
And I panic.  
“Let him go!” My scream cuts through the clearing.  
I raise the knife in my hand and press it to my own throat. Either the stranger lets Lennox go or I die with him. Either way, I refuse to leave him.  
The girl screams and the elf turns pale. I press the blade deeper into my throat until I feel something warm trickle down.  
The elf moves forward, hands shaking. “Hannah! Don’t!”  
His friend turns white and screams. Her own hands are shaking. She looks at her third companion who continues to strangle Lennox all the while staring at me in shock.  
“Saerys! She doesn’t remember us. Let him go, she’s going to hurt herself!”  
The stranger, Saerys?, refuses to budge.  
I refuse to back down too. I press the blade in deeper so that the tiny trickle turns into a gush. The blood nearly makes me black out. I feel lightheaded.  
I raise my eyes and my gaze meets Lennox. He’s given up on resisting and is instead glaring at me. He mouths ‘put it down’ over and over again and gives me a stare with something akin to panic.  
The thought that he worries about me gives me greater strength. I move to slit my throat-  
And the stranger panics.  
He tosses Lennox aside and dives for me. His speed is quicker than any human as he arrives at me and rips the blade from my grasp.  
I scream as he wraps his arms around me and crushes me against his frame. He’s shaking as he holds me, lips moving in tangent with panicked phrases, yet I tune him out.  
My gaze meets Lennox who is on the ground and wheezing for breath. He recovers just as an arrow narrowly misses him. He staggers to his feet and begins to skirt for the edge of the clearing.  
The stranger holding me presses a hand to my bleeding neck and regards him with scorching hatred.  
“I will kill you, Lennox Arnold! You did something to her and I will undo it. She is finally free from you!”  
I open my mouth to beg him to let me and Lennox go, but Lennox beats me to it. He ignores the stranger’s taunts and simply meets my gaze. He raises his hand so that his gold band shines in the sunlight.  
“It is alright, love, I will come back for you. You are mine.” He gives me a gaze full of meaning and then spins around and disappears into the tall grass.  
The elf gives chase and the girl sends flying spells at his wake but I know they won’t find him.  
Lennox’s promise rings in my ear and I struggle against the stranger holding me. Tears stream down my face and I beat against his chest. The stranger is shaking as he holds me and he makes no move to stop my assault. His eyes are scanning me with powerful emotions I can’t comprehend.  
“Who are you?”  
I beat against his chest and the tears come faster.  
His gaze, his scent, his voice, there’s something incredibly familiar about him. Something tells me that I know him, yet I can’t remember. It’s confusing and overwhelming. I feel like throwing up.  
The stranger takes me into his arms and kisses me. I make a startled sound and try to fight him off.  
The kiss isn’t like the ones I’ve shared with Lennox. There’s no possession or hint of a bite. Instead, this kiss is much more powerful and emotional. I can feel the stranger’s love in it as well as his immense relief.  
It makes my head spin and I go slack in his arms. My tears come faster now and I give up my fight. I let the stranger embrace me and press his mouth to my ear. He’s rambling something under his breath in an attempt to soothe me.  
“ **I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re safe with me.** I finally found you. He can’t hurt you anymore.”  
His rambling delves into another language and I block him out. I shake in his arms and peer over his shoulder at where Lennox ran off and the other two followed.  
My fingers twirl the ring on my hand and I begin to cry again.  
I have no idea what is happening, have no idea who this stranger is, but something in me is awakening from a three year long slumber. It washes over me like a tsunami and almost drowns me.  
For the first time in three years, I feel something akin to freedom. It is such an intoxicating emotion that I freeze in place and say nothing as the stranger goes to kiss me again. Instead, I stand there and simmer under my growing inner war.  
The fight between wanting to follow Lennox and retake his side-  
And finally freeing myself from his grasp.


End file.
